Abandoned
by monkaholic
Summary: Spoilers for the season 1 season finale Ep 23. Betty rushes to the hospital when she hears about Daniel.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Spoilers for the season finale, which was episode 23. This is just a short piece about what I imagine Betty's reaction might be when she finds out about Daniel. This is the first UB fic that I have written from Betty's POV, so it was a new experience. I so get Daniel's character, but I have trouble writing Betty for some reason. Hopefully I did an okay job. Reviews are very welcome and always very much appreciated!

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Betty's hand quivered as she reached for the handle on the door to room 305. She licked her dry lips and took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she might be met with on the other side.

"_Betty Suarez?"_ _the impatient voice on the phone had said._

"_Yes, this is Betty. Who's this?" Betty couldn't shake that nagging feeling of dread while she was waiting for an answer. She had been lying in bed with Hilda, holding her shattered sister until Hilda's tears had finally run out and she had drifted into sleep._

"_This is Pine_ _Crest_ _Hospital." Betty's heart instantly began to race. "We have a patient here under the name of Daniel Meade. He was in a car accident and you're his emergency contact."_

"_What?" Betty found it hard to breathe as she thought of Daniel alone and hurt. "Is…is he okay? He's okay, right?"_

"_He was unconscious when they brought him in, ma'am. He's lost a lot of blood."_

"_Oh my god," Betty said. "Oh my god…" Betty flipped her cell phone shut and tried to catch her breath._

_Hilda stirred next to her and said in a weak voice, "What was that all about?"_

"_It's Daniel," Betty said with a catch in her voice, "he's been in an accident."_

"_Oh my god…"_

"_I'm so sorry Hilda, but I've got to go. I have to be with him. He doesn't have anyone else."_

"_No, of course, Betty, go. I'll be fine."_

"_Are you sure?"_

_Hilda's eyes filled with tears as she said, "I'll be as fine as I can be. Go, he needs you."_

"_Go ahead, Aunt Betty," said a voice from the doorway. "I'll take over from here."_

_Betty smiled at Justin and gave him a kiss on the forehead. She had no idea how he could be so strong. He was the kid. He had just lost his father. He was supposed to be falling apart, too. But there he was, ready to take care of his mother. "I love you, you know that?"_

_Justin smiled back at Betty and said, "I know." He climbed into the bed with his mother and held her tight as a new storm of tears rolled in._

_Betty took one last look at them and thanked God for her family. Then she turned around and headed out the door. Her only thoughts then were of Daniel._

The door to the hospital room swung open and Betty's breath caught in her throat at her first glimpse of Daniel. He was so pale, and he had tubes coming out of him from all angles. Betty hesitantly stepped over to the bed, and when she got there she grabbed hold of his cold hand, careful not to disturb the IVs. She reached her other hand to his forehead and sighed, "Oh… Daniel." She smoothed back the hair from his face, noticing that even his usually spiky hair was lifeless. Her lower lip trembled as she softly traced the small cuts on his face, and a tear fell when she reached the bandaged gash on his forehead. She listened to the steady beeping of his heart monitor as her fingers drifted to his broken lips, and she was so thankful to feel the warmth of his shallow breath on her skin. At least he was breathing on his own.

"I'm here, Daniel," Betty said with a shaky voice. "I'm not going to leave you." She lifted his hand to her lips and placed a soft kiss on his knuckles. She felt guilty for not having been there. She felt guilty that her last words with him hadn't been pleasant. She felt guilty for avoiding him. Most of all, she felt guilty for chasing after Henry when she should have been focused on getting Daniel help.

Betty sighed. She shouldn't have to feel guilty about having a life outside of Daniel, but she couldn't help it. Her friend was in need of help, and she had abandoned him. He was just lying there motionless, his stomach pumped of the pills that he had overdosed on, his IVs steadily dripping new blood into his system. He looked so frail…and alone. Betty had thought that maybe, just maybe Bradford Meade would care that his son was nearly killed, but apparently not. The nurse had told her that Alexis Meade was in the accident too, she had been the one driving. She should probably check on Alexis. Betty was sure that Alexis would be just as alone as Daniel. But Betty couldn't bring herself to leave Daniel's side. She wasn't going to abandon him again.

Betty sat down in the chair that was next to Daniel's bed and she stroked his knuckles with her thumb as he slept. His fingers seemed to be the only parts of him that were undamaged.

Betty's heart leapt as she heard Daniel groan in his sleep. His grip on her hand tightened and the beeping of his heart monitor sped up. His eyebrows were drawn together and his face had a pained expression. He wasn't waking up, he was just stuck in some awful nightmare. Betty stood up and smoothed his brow, and for some reason she hummed a familiar lullaby as she stroked his hair. Daniel's face relaxed and his hand went limp. His heart monitor calmed down and his breathing became steady again. Betty leaned down to kiss Daniel's forehead, then she sat back in her chair and eventually drifted off into her own sleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night she could have sworn that she heard a hoarse voice whisper, "Betty…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I just want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed! I originally meant for this fic to be a oneshot, but since there was such a demand for more, I decided to make it a two-parter. This chapter is from Daniel's POV. Hopefully you all will like it!

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Darkness. It was all he could see, all he could feel, all he could taste. He tried to move his head, but all that got him was a pain worse than anything he had ever felt in his entire life. He tried to swallow, but all that was in his throat was a stabbing dryness. He tried to open his eyes, but the darkness refused to leave him. When he spoke, he didn't recognize the voice that was calling out for the one thing that had always brought a light to his dreary life. "Betty…" the voice had said. He was vaguely aware of something in his hand, and he closed his fingers around it. It was warmth. It was life. And somehow he just knew that it was Betty. The darkness was slowly leaving him.

As Daniel's eyes came into focus, he saw Betty slouched over in a chair and heard her softly snoring. He wanted to smile, but his face wouldn't cooperate with him. He settled for a weak sigh and he just watched her sleep. He was wrong when he had told Alexis that he had nothing left. He had Betty. He would always have Betty, no matter how much he disappointed her. At least, he hoped that he would always have Betty. He couldn't imagine a life without her in it, and he couldn't remember how he had lived without her for the first 32 years of his life. Daniel's grip on Betty's hand tightened, an irrational fear bubbling up inside of him that if he let go of her hand she would disappear forever.

He laid there and watched her sleep for hours. Her red glasses were askew on her face, one leg of the frames tangled in her hair. Her mouth was slightly open and she had a steady drip of drool sliding down her cheek. She had a smeared line of mascara covering her other cheek. Her nose was red from crying. Her hair was in disarray. She was a mess. But for the first time, Daniel realized how truly beautiful she was.

He heard Betty take in a deep breath, and then he saw her eyes open. She stretched her free arm and then she straightened her glasses as she gazed out of the window at the rising sun. She swiped a sleeve across her face and made an "ack" sound. She straightened in her chair and looked at Daniel. Her eyes locked with his, and a slow smile spread across her face. She jumped out of her chair as she exclaimed, "Daniel!" and softly laid a hand on his cheek.

A warmth spread throughout Daniel's entire body when Betty gave him that glorious smile of hers. She was the only woman in the world who could make him feel like he was worth something with just one simple smile. He tried to smile back at her, but he just didn't have the strength. There was so much he wanted to say to her, so much that he wanted her to know. He hated disappointing her. She was the best thing in his life. She was the only one he could trust. She was his greatest friend. She was his family. She was his reason to be a better man. In the end, all that managed to escape his mouth was a hoarse, "I'm sorry."

Betty's lip began to tremble as she stroked his cheek with her thumb. He saw her eyes flicker over the cuts on his face, and then with a shaky voice she said, "_I'm_ sorry. I should have been there. I should have gotten you help."

Daniel mustered all of his strength to raise his arm and place his hand over hers. He closed his eyes and sighed as he pressed her hand deeper into his cheek. He cherished the feel of her soft skin against the raggedness of his own. "It's not your fault, Betty," he whispered. Daniel opened his eyes and let his arm drop back down to the bed.

Betty removed her hand from his face and pressed it to her chest as she said, "Yes it is! If I had been there for you this never would have—"

Daniel squeezed the hand that he was still holding and he whispered firmly, "It's _not_ your fault."

Betty gave a defeated sigh and she sat back down in the chair. She looked down at their intertwined hands and tried to pull away, but Daniel refused to let her go. She gave him a questioning look, but he ignored her, not quite willing to let her know that he'd miss the closeness that he felt from simply holding her hand. He looked into her eyes, and once again he croaked, "I'm sorry."

Betty was silent for a moment, then, as a tear slipped down her cheek, she softly smiled and nodded her head as she said, "I know."

Daniel fought to swallow, then he said, "I need you, Betty."

"I know," she said again.

By some miracle, Daniel actually felt himself smile. Betty chuckled at him and got up and slipped an arm carefully behind his neck and managed to give him a hug. Daniel felt himself smile again as her hair tickled his nose. She pulled away from him and gave him a stern look as she said, "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again, Daniel Meade! When I got that call last night I was afraid that I was going to lose you!" Her voice had broken on the last couple of words.

Daniel raised his arm from the bed again and brushed the tears away from her face as he said, "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Betty laughed and hugged him again. "I need you, too," she whispered in his ear. And that was the moment when Daniel knew without a doubt that Betty Suarez would always be a part of his life.


End file.
